9 In her final considerations on the issue of transgenic plants in Brazil, Carmen Luiza Cabral Marinho wrote about CTNBio: "Until now the National Bio-safety Policy, one of the attributions of CTNBio, as ruled by the Bio-safety law [1995], has not been drafted. Also lacking are the normative instructions related to inspections and the necessary financial and human resources, amongst others, as well as the acceptable dimensions of areas allowed for experiments. Nevertheless, despite the absence of clear directives, licenses have been granted for release of GMOs in the environment in areas whose size varies from 0.006 to 110 hectares for the same transgenic and for the same purpose. It is impossible to find which scientific criteria justify such disparity. Equally irresponsible decisions can be found in the licensing of various experiments for 'demonstration purposes', a unique concession being granted to more than forty different private farms. Out of this chaotic scenario figures a total disconnection between the activities of the many officials dealing with the issue of bio-safety related to transgenics in the country. The ministries concerned did not proceed to the inspection required and followed the constant authorizations led by CTNBio, without intervening. On the other hand, despite being aware of the lack of inspection, the Commission continues to authorize experiments in the atmosphere". O discurso poliss?co sobre plantas transg?cas no Brasil: Estado da arte. PhD thesis in Science, in the area of Public Health, Escola Nacional de Sa? P?ca, Rio de Janeiro, 2003.
